Stapleton's Downfall﻿

As the KKK started taking over, you would've expected Mayor Stapleton to have done something. But by this time, he had done nothing. In fact, Stapleton only made things worse. With all the power he had as Mayor, he started using it for the Klan's gain. Stapleton helped a few Klansmen get into Colorado's government.

According to Cara Degette, of The Colorado Independent,

“After the general election of 1924, the governor, Clarence Morley, was a Klansman, taking his orders from Dr. John Galen Locke, the Grand Dragon of the Colorado Realm. Benjamin Stapleton, the mayor of Denver, consulted the Klan when making appointments. U.S. Senator Rice Means was elected with open Klan support. The state House of Representatives had a Klan majority.”

Overall, Stapleton's great deed to Colorado was the addition of Klansmembers to the government. Evidently, this wasn't much help. The KKK was burning crosses and staging rallies; parades and marches denouncing others. By Klansmembers being in the government, the laws weren't enforced and these aggressive acts were allowed.